Having pioneered c-store loyalty programs from their inception, including several aspects of Speedway’s Speedy Rewards architecture, I have thoughts on the topic of the evolving social media, digital coupons and the evolving brand-retailer-consumer relationship, which is transactional. We call it Brand-Transactional Engagement (BTE).
BTE is unavoidable. The all-important millennials are looking for a more personal relationship with their favorite brands. They expect mobile offers and rewards for their loyalty and will share their experiences. The good and bad will be spoken of, shared, tweeted and otherwise published for everyone to see.
Many retailers are caught in the middle of new consumer demands, brand responses to these demands and the need to meet the advanced technological requirements to support them. Others, such as Speedway, have become early adopters and may have paid a premium for the loyalty and brand opportunity. Loyalty programs are designed to increase transaction count and value from both current consumers and those siphoned from competitors that won’t meet the new demands of BTE. First-mover advantages are huge: You can create early consumer loyalty stickiness, forge vendor loyalty partnerships and programs, and gain valuable insights to help you get a head start in the new direct-to-consumer era.
Limitations of legacy POS and mobile-app technology are being overcome by second-generation transactional interfaces, such as POS loyalty ports and POS mobile-wallet interfaces. The brand-consumer relationship is going transactional to determine each consumer’s current and potential future value, to analyze his or her position on the lifetime value curve, and to determine the right offers and investments that will maximize his or her potential future value.
Transaction and Adventure
You already have seen the telltale signs. Your largest brands in the biggest categories are asking for your POS transaction data, including the consumer identifier. Other brands are obtaining transaction data by directly giving consumers incentives to provide pictures of their receipts. Brands use an individual’s transaction history to engage him or her and secure the next purchase for maximum brand affinity and consumption. Those that succeed will set themselves apart from those who merely look at data because, in the end, just looking at transaction data won’t even be worth as much as looking at last week’s newspaper.
The brands will find ways to the transaction data. Use your data to secure brand-sponsored loyalty offers and rewards before retailers across the street provide it.
Apple Pay’s arrival in the mobile-wallet space is the game changer: It solidifies mobile wallets and reshapes retailer, consumer and brand relationships. Wallets move paper coupons to digital, culminating in real-time transaction discounts. Consumers simply scan product bar codes (the true product beacons) to invite that brand into their mobile wallet. Consumers stay connected with favorite brands via their wallets for the latest in brand culture updates on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and mobile-friendly home pages. Their wallets alert them about nearby relevant offers and rewards for only those products, brands and retailers.
Consumers stay connected through personalized offers and rewards derived from their transaction history. Wallet-based links allow instant brand feedback, social sharing of experiences, and live brand media and event updates. Ultimately, brands may provide variable pricing based on a consumer’s positon on the lifetime value curve.
Hitting the Wallet
While the mobile-wallet wars (Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and MCX CurrentC) appear to be over card fees, the stakes may be much higher, involving brand and trade funds delivered directly to the consumer. As those funds are diverted to wallets and provide direct discounts to the consumer, you will be left out if you don’t accept that wallet. This is a radical change in the relationship among the consumer, retailer and brand. Consumers will use the most convenient wallets that provide the best offers. While the issue of card fees is large, it pales compared to losing consumers because you can’t honor the offers in their wallet.
Through mobile wallets, the new relationship between consumers and brands level the playing field from the small single store to the large chains. You need to move quickly to grab what’s left of the early mover’s advantage and embrace wallets while you can still build loyalty stickiness. Brands will be looking to build those paths directly to consumers. Help them and join them in your consumer’s wallet to secure that loyalty before they get lured across the street by the loyalty networks forming all around you.
The catchphrase “What’s in your wallet?” has evolved into “Are you in their wallet?”
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